No More Bad Fountains But Kids' Water Play Areas Still OK

The City fountains are dry and have been since May. This one is at City Hall.

Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio

The City of Sacramento is looking for new ways to respond to the drought. The City Council on Thursday will consider a ban on residential, decorative fountains that don't re-circulate water.

If the council approves the ban, the city will meet conservation standards set last month by the State Water Resources Control Board.

That's according to Terrance Davis. He's with the Department of Utilities. He says the Sacramento has been without city-operated decorative fountains since May. But, water features at playgrounds are still on.

"We've made a determination at this point our pools are still operating and so our spray features at the parks are similar in that water use for recreation is a quality of life issue and we still continue to use those facilities at this point in time."

Davis says people who bought their fountains more than 20 years ago should check them. Newer fountains almost always re-circulate water.

"Most of those that you pick up from a local hardware store or the big box stores are going to be re-circulating. They'll typically have some type of feature in the base that will filter the water and recapture it."

Davis says the City shut off its nine, re-circulating, decorative water fountains in May,

The City says it is close to its 20 percent-monthly conservation goal for the month of July and will know for certain later this week. Sacramento has reduced its consumption by about 17 percent compared to the past two years. The state of California has increased its consumption by one percent.

Bob reports on all things northern California and Nevada. His coverage of police technology, local athletes, and the environment has won a regional Associated Press and several Edward R. Murrow awards. Read Full Bio